Our Little Secret
by D Rtist Dzinr
Summary: Logan and Ororo have been married for years, but none of the others know it… Which poses a problem. They can't make it obvious or it would spoil the whole thing. What happens when Ororo gets pregnant? The others don't know how important it is to keep this a secret. Will they find out? Or will others find out first…
1. Normal

Logan and Ororo were in his room, He'd met her in the rec room and gave her that look that they both knew as You have some free time? "Logan?" Ororo asked as she entered his room. He turned and smiled at her, she joined him at the window, they hugged and kissed. It had been an entire week since they were able to be alone together, just them in their own time. They leaned on each other, she closed her eyes nuzzling into his hair on the side of his head. "I've missed you." She said softly "I missed you to Ro." He responded, they fondled together hoping their time together could go on, and they'd never have to go back to what everyone thought of as "normal".

Meanwhile:

The Professor was in his office looking out the window at the kids playing in the yard. He smiled, he loved the fact that he was able to get all of them away from the hatred and rejection of mankind, to a place where they would be safe and sound, where they could learn to manage and direct their abilities to where maybe one day mankind wouldn't be so hard on them. Jean came beside him. "Hey Professor." She said putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see her and smiled. "Hello Jean… How have you been this last couple days?" She smiled "You're asking me? I should be asking you, you're the one who went against Magneto and his accomplices, we only helped on the physical side." Charles laughed for a second. The past week was brutal for them all, they had an all-out war with Magneto and his team… But Charles had done the most work, in the mental realm. When it was all done the Professor was worn out and bleeding because of how intense it was, they had to put him in the hospital for two days until he insisted on getting up. "Well if you're wondering I'm feeling great, a lot better than a few days ago." Jean smiled at him. "By the way have you seen Scott?" The Professor looked around the room. I think he's in the library, he told me he would be if anyone wanted him…" "Thanks, oh, also do you have any Idea where Ororo and Logan are?" "I saw them earlier, but they were each going somewhere that they didn't disclose to me…" He said, she took his word for it. "Well alright, thanks Professor." She said and walked out. He looked down at the table. He knew where they were, but he didn't want to ruin their alone time. The Professor was the only one other than them that knew about their marriage.

January 1998:

Logan and Ororo had come to talk to the Professor on urgent business, they'd told him that it was mission details in the presence of the others, so they wouldn't get into too much detail, but they both knew it was about something much more important than that, to them anyway. They got to the office, and the Professor was waiting eagerly to hear of what they had found about whatever this was.

"Logan, Ororo, welcome… So, tell me what is this that you were trying to explain to me earlier?" He asked hands together. Logan and Ororo looked at each-other, giving the other a 'well, here it goes' look. "Professor, we're not here to talk about a secret mission, or an enemy plan." Ororo said looking him in the eye. He raised his head a bit. "Well then what is it about?" He was now more curious than before. "The truth is, we came here to tell you something personal…" "Very personal." Logan emphasized walking to where Storm was. "Do you still want me to tell him?" She asked, he looked at her knowing how much stress and sometimes pain it caused for them to keep this hidden. He turned his face downwards closing his eyes, then looked up at the Professor sincerely. "The truth is Chuck… Ororo and I are married." The Professor looked at Logan with shock. "That's wonderful!" He said exuberantly. Then he remembered what he said about keeping a secret. "But, what does this have to do with keeping a secret?" He asked. "Well, you see Professor we don't really want it to be a secret, and it wouldn't have to be if it weren't for one thing…" She spoke up, "Weapon X…" Logan said sounding annoyed. "What about Weapon X?" Charles asked, "Ever since a couple years ago they've been hunting down those who used to work with or for them… Either killing or kidnapping them, trying to finish what they started, making us perfected weapons, like they think we're meant to be." Xavier looked shocked, Logan had never opened up that much about his past to anyone, not even him, but somehow Ororo was opening him up, he was amazed. "That's why…" She said bringing the Professor out of his amazement. "We need this secret, to remain a secret, at least until this thing with Weapon X is over…" "I don't want anyone to get hurt, or taken on account of me." He said looking concerned at his wife. The Professor understood more now. "Hmm I see, well, you two will need your own time alone, with just each other and no one else, is that part of what you are trying to say?" "Yes Professor, we've, Missed each other a lot sometimes." She said sadly, he put his arm around her, she leaned on him. "In that case, of course, you can have all the time you need, except on missions, then is only about the mission, nothing else." "Right, thanks Chuck…" Logan responded turning to look at the Professor smiling. The two walked towards the door. "Oh, Professor…" Ororo said turning to him. "Don't let anyone else know about this until…" "It's alright Ororo, your secret is safe with me. They smiled at him and him back to them, they then left.

Present Day:

Jean and Scott along with everyone else were in the lounge room. Talking of plans for the next mission training for the young mutants. Logan, Ororo, Scott and a few other more experienced mutants and teachers would be training them.

The next day:

Logan Scott and the other teachers were out on the grounds setting up obstacles. The kids would be there in a few minutes, everything was looking up. Training went well, with a few rescues and emergency improvising entailed. ood job on the lesson today, you're improving quickly, that's good. You still need to work on perception and agility, along with a few other skills… For now class dismissed." He said, everyone departed to their destinations, Jean and Ororo did most of the cleanup (since Jean has telekinesis and Ororo has weather manipulation they could move the equipment faster and better than everyone else.)


	2. The Game Changer

A few days later the school fair was going on, so the kids were out at the fair while the adults were back either at the school or wherever they were. Logan was talking to the Professor along with Forge who was visiting for a while. Forge soon left to attend to some business of his own. Xavier turned to Logan. "So how have you been, you and Ororo I mean…" Logan looked down to the man and smiled, "It's been good, thanks for understanding." The Professor smiled, "Forgive me for saying this… but, I've never seen you like this before…" "Like what?" The man asked, "Just, this calm." Logan looked at him shocked at his comment, then smiled. "Well, I guess I just found my perfect match." The Professor smiled.

Logan went up to Ororo's room, for a visit. She was sitting on her bed holding her head. "Ro?" He asked entering the door. "Ya ok?" She nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright, I just feel strange…" "Like what?" Her husband asked sitting down next to her, he put his arm around his wife, she smiled at him leaning into him. Then something crossed her mind. She got up going to the bathroom. He waited outside. A minute later she came out with a shocked look on her face. He got up to see what was wrong. They sat down again, she turned to him. "Hey babe…" She said, "Yeah?" "You know how our marriage is a secret…" "Yeah…" "Well, I think we spoiled it." "What do ya mean?" He asked, she looked at him both joyfully and sadly. "I'm pregnant." His face broke into a look of WHAT?!. "Really?" "Yes." Then as realization hit him, he knew what this meant to them. They would have to make it known now or it would just be weird. "You think we should tell the Professor?" Ororo asked, Logan nodded. They sent him a telepathic message about it. She looked back at him noticing his expression, it was one of worry. "Logan, are you alright?" He looked back at her and the worry started to fade into a gentle smile. "Yeah." He responded, then looked down to where their child was being held and nurtured, putting his hand on her stomach. "Baby huh." He said rubbing her tummy. She nodded cautiously not sure of his reaction. "A baby." "Yes…" The white of his teeth started to show as the smile grew in size. He exhaled a quick short breath that sounded like a mix between a sob and a laugh. He looked at her as she touched his face with her hand smiling joyfully. "Our baby." "Our baby?" "Yes… ours." He exhaled again like the same as he did before, this time more clearly. He put his hand behind her head, pulling her to him. They touched noses and foreheads sweetly, then kissed. He bent down a moment later wrapping his arms around her waist placing his head on her stomach snuggling it. She smiled to him emotion starting to take over, she ran her fingers through his hair giving his scalp a light massage, he purred at the action pulling her closer to him. "Thank you James." She commented to him, he looked up at her for a moment to her smiling face. Though he'd seen it so many times her radiance still sent a shiver all through him. He had a question written in his expression. "For this." She clarified, he smiled to her then turned his head to her stomach area planting a light yet heartfelt kiss on the place where their child formed.

They stayed together for the remainder of the day. When dinner came they were early, knowing that everyone would be anxious to get there. "Hey Ororo where were you? We were looking for you for like a while." Kitty asked looking at her concerned, she then gave her a hug. "I'm sorry Kitty, I guess I just needed some time alone today." The Professor looked at Logan knowing the news they sent him earlier. They talked telepathically till Jean got there. 'What's going on?' Jean thought, 'Oh, nothing much, just some plans Ororo had…' he thought back, they didn't talk anymore on the subject for the rest of the night.

Early the next morning Logan woke up to the sunlight shining into their room from the open window that had been left open the previous night. Looking over to Ororo, she was still asleep, he turned slightly, kissing her lightly on the cheek. She smiled opening her eyes, turning her head to see him. "Hey Darlin'." He said his face a few inches above hers, they kissed, warmth spread across her face as she smiled again.

Meanwhile in the hallway, Kitty and Rogue were on their way to the kitchen. "Then I said, Oh Scott you have such a way with pastry, ha-ha-ha!" Kitty laughed, Rogue was unamused by Kitty's humor, "Ugh, grow up!" She said pushing Kitty away, she phased through the wall unintentionally finding herself in a small room. 'ugh rude…' she thought. She was about to go back through the wall when she heard someone talking from the other room. "So, what do you think we should tell them?" One said, "Hmm, I'm not sure yet…" Kitty knew those voices, it was Ororo and Logan, but together, at this time of day? "You think we should tell them about the little one when it's more obvious?" "Yeah that'd probably be best. Just incase the organization get's any whiff of me they won't touch you or the baby." He said rubbing his hand over her stomach. "Logan…" Ororo said not wanting him to worry that the facility would get their hands on her or their family. "I'm sorry Ro, I know you don't want me thinkin' about it…" Kitty still in the closet gasped… 'Logan and Ororo have a baby? But, how, when? And… Logan's being hunted… By who? Why?'

A moment later Logan turned his head catching Kitty's scent. "What's wrong?" Ororo asked looking concerned. "Half Pint…" He said jumping up running to the closet, he opened it and saw Kitty's foot phase through the wall. She ran through the hallway as fast as she could. "KITTY WAIT!" He shouted running after her, she phased through a few more walls getting as far away as she could. 'Chuck! Kit Cat knows about me n' Ro… don't let her tell anyone!' He thought loudly. Charles got the message. 'Kitty! Kitty!' Charles thought to Kitty loudly, Kitty stopped 'Professor, you won't believe what I just heard!' She thought back. 'I know Kitty, come to my office quickly before anyone else knows.' She rushed to the Professor's room, so did Logan and Ororo. Kitty looked over to the couple, hoping she didn't severely offend them especially Logan. "What's this all about Professor?" She asked fear obvious in her voice, the Professor looked at Logan and nodded. "The point is Kit Cat, that you were listenin' in on a personal conversation that was none of your business." She stepped away to the wall. "Logan…" Ororo said giving him that look, he realized how much he'd accidentally scared Kitty and sighed. "Sorry... the Professor can probably explain it better than either of us right now…" He went back to stand next to her. Kitty came back to the desk. "Well Kitty, the reason I called you here was to tell you what this is all about since it seems to be the only thing we can do." Logan looked at him knowing this was literally the only option they had. "The truth is, Logan and Ororo are married…" Kitty's eyes widened. "Whoa, really?!" She looked back at the two smiling. "Yes." "But, then why didn't you guys say anything about it? I mean not everything's like life or death right…" "Actually Kitty, you may be wrong on that point, Logan and Ororo don't prefer to keep this confidential but it may be crucial to their survival." "But, that doesn't even make sense… Why?" "It's because, a facility I worked with once… They're hunting all of their former… employees down and either killing them or experimenting on them… to make them…" He paused not wanting to say the next thing in front of Kitty knowing what a shock it could give her. "Logan…" He heard his wife's voice at his side. "Weapons…" Kitty gasped at the thought of someone being taken by force and made to go through the pain and suffering that would be. Why would anyone on the face of the earth do that? They were obviously crazy. "Worst case scenario if they got word of Ororo and the child they could try and take them to get to Logan, that's why it's a secret…" "Oh…" Kitty hadn't realized how vital this was to them. "Wow, Logan, Ororo, I had no idea… I-I'm sorry." "It's ok Kitty, we understand." Ororo said putting her hand on Kitty's shoulder smiling warmly, Kitty hugged her. "I just, I'm really happy for you guys… I mean, the good part." "Hmm hmm, we know." Logan and Charles smiled. "We might as well tell the others now Chuck, I don't know if Kit Cat here will be able to contain the news…" Logan stated, Kitty looked back to him. "Oh, I can keep a secret." She said exuberantly, Logan laughed. "I'm sure you can Half Pint, I don't like keepin' this secret myself, that's the point." Kitty smiled, Charles looked at him. "Are you sure Logan? You did say that earlier would be riskier than later." Logan gave him a half smile then turned his attention to his wife, she smiled back at him. The day happened pretty quick after that.


	3. Big Bad Softy

Training was a little interesting… Logan was a bit extra protective of Ororo. "Wolverine, stick to your area, Storm can take care of herself." Scott said in mid danger room session, it was one of the times when Logan thought about how much he just might want to let Cyclops know just how much he didn't know... Ororo did great on evading and dodging everything the kids threw at her, so did everyone else, except Logan… Which honestly was a little embarrassing, but he'd rather protect his family than show off. Scott talked to him after the session had finished. "Logan, what's up? I mean, you got knocked down five times today, by the recruits! What's going on?" Logan glared at him then turned his head to face the corner. Scott didn't know what to say next. Logan turned back to face him. "Cyc, if I tried to explain it now you would just be left with more questions, it's best to tell you n' the others about later…" 'WOW…' Scott thought, whenever Logan explained anything it was usually simple straight shot, but him giving specifics like that was a big deal… You NEVER heard him do that. Scott went up to see the Professor after that. "Ah, hello Scott." He said as the young man entered the room. "Hey Professor." He said sitting down in one of the chairs, he ran his hand through his hair thinking. "What's on your mind?" Charles asked, Scott stayed silent for a moment then looked up to speak. "Nothing much… I mean… It's Logan…" "What about him?" The Professor asked looking intrigued. "*sighs* He got knocked down by the new recruits in combat training today, five times!" The Professor raised his head at this news shocked, Logan NEVER got beaten in combat… EVER… "When I asked him about it he told me if he explained it to me that I'd have even more questions than before." "Hmm, I see…" "What do you make of it Professor?" Scott asked confused. Charles rubbed his chin "I think Logan has a lot on his mind right now…" He said, Scott gave him a look of 'huh?' The Professor didn't say much else to him about it, so he left thinking about what he heard.

IN A ROOM IN THE INSTITUTE:

Logan was looking at a book from the library, (a habit from Ororo that had slightly rubbed off onto him). A minute later he heard someone come in. He looked up to see his wife walking towards him, she sat down next to him giving him a kiss on the cheek, he smiled. "Hey Babe." "Hey." She responded leaning against him. "How ya feeling?" He asked her, she smiled. "I feel fine." There was silence. "Logan." "Hmm?" "You didn't have to defend me in the session you know." He looked sweetly at her. "Well, I just didn't want you to get hurt…" She smiled, "I think I'd be fine, even if I was knocked a bit." He leaned his head back looking her in the eye. "It's not just you I'm worried about." He said landing the palm of his hand gently on her stomach, she looked down at it placing her hand over his, and looking tenderly to him.

About ten minutes later someone came down to where they were. "Hey Logan… Storm…" Jean said entering the room, she too sat down on one of the chairs to read one of her favorite books. She looked down to her book ready to become one with the story when she noticed something rather unusual. It was Storm and Wolverine. First, he was reading, which you don't really see him do… Usually he was either training, taking a ride on his bike, or somewhere out in the woods, but now sitting and reading and… Peaceful? And Ororo sitting next to him. She knew they could communicate and tolerate each other well, but usually if she wanted to be alone, she'd find a way to be alone, and same thing with him. And… They were holding hands! Jean couldn't concentrate on her book anymore, the scene in front of her was far too intriguing. She looked at their faces next, 'Do they even know?' She wondered silently. As she looked at Ororo's face, there was no alarm, no shock, nothing she wouldn't see in a calm state. Maybe she didn't notice, she kept watching. Logan adjusted himself a bit slanting his body slightly, and moving his arm and hand hardly. Storm didn't budge, oh she knew alright… Either that or she was just too concentrated to know about it. Jean didn't want them to think she was nosy or staring so she turned her attention to her book as much as she could. A few minutes later she couldn't stand the pressure anymore, so she walked out, thinking about what she had just seen. "Jean." She heard a voice to her side, "Are you alright?" She turned to see Scott walking towards her. She met him with a hug. "I'm fine." She said calmly, he smiled. They went back to the same room the couple were in, looked in seeing the two, they then walked to the next room which no one was in. Jean didn't see the two's hands the time they went by the door. But she knew what she saw before. "Hey Scott, did you notice anything strange about today?" She asked him telepathically, knowing Logan could pick up anything with his ears. "Yeah I did… In the training session, Logan was sure acting funny." "How do you mean?" She asked, "The way he acted like he was concerned for Storm." She then remembered, "Oh yeah, that was strange." "It was as if he thought she couldn't defend herself." "And then he couldn't concentrate after that." She input. "What do you make of that?" Scott asked. "I don't… Hmm…" "What is it?" "I, you know that room we walked by just a moment ago?" "The one with Ororo and Logan in it? Yeah," "I was in there just a couple minutes ago, and I saw something that I'd never seen before…" Scott looked at her wondering. "What was it?" He thought to her. "Storm and Logan… They were holding hands." Scott was amazed at this news. "What? Really?!" "Yes, and I didn't think they knew what they were doing, but they both moved enough to know, and they didn't seem bothered at all." Scott was shocked, he looked up, "You think they have a thing for each other?" He asked, "They might… I guess you talked to the Professor about it?" "Yeah, his answer was a bit more complicated than I'd hoped." "What'd he say?" "He said that he has a lot on his mind right now…" "Hmm…" "I even asked Logan about it…" "Did he tell you anything?" "He told me that if he tried to explain it to me I'd be left with more questions than answers." "Wow… He actually said something about it…" Scott nodded, they didn't know what to think of that. Except that things weren't what they were before, and the wolverine that they knew wasn't the same man.


	4. Why So Secretive?

A month went by…

It was becoming more obvious about the baby, little by little. Kitty was in the kitchen getting a sandwich, Ororo came in the room seeing her. "Hello Kitty." She spun around hearing the voice from behind her. "Hey Ororo." She said happily trotting over to give her a hug. "How are you doing?" "I'm fine. How about you Kitty…" The older woman asked. "I'm good." They didn't have much to say to each other being that they were both hungry. When they sat down to eat Kitty had a question on her mind that she had been dying to ask, for some reason she couldn't find time to bring it up. "Hey Ororo." Kitty said kind of quietly, "So, how long have you and Mr. Logan been married?" The older woman smiled, "A few years…" Kitty's eyes widened. "Whoa… How have you two been able to keep it like secret?" "I'm not really sure… We just have. We don't always want to." She resumed eating.

Kitty wondered, why anyone would want to use people like machines, it just wasn't right. "Umm, like forgive me for asking, but what was the weapon X thing anyway?" Ororo's expression changed, "It's… a torture chamber." "I think I got that part already… But like what happens there? Why was it even made in the first place?" "It was originally used as a lab for special doctors. They used to test their theories there, it wasn't ever used for anything wrong until someone named Andre Thorton came. When he saw what the people were doing he decided to take the corporation into his own hands, he tried to persuade the doctors into going with his plan but of course many of them refused, since they were not willing and they had overheard what he was thinking they were never seen again, many of them were his first test subjects. It was only in 1959 when he discovered the key to one of his experiments." "What was it?" Ororo paused for a few seconds. "Adamantium…" "Wait… Isn't that stuff like what Mr. Logan's bones are made out of?" Kitty was amazed and confused. "No they're not." "But he said he had it in him, like his bones." Ororo looked down sadly, she didn't like talking about what Logan had to go through because it was painful to just think about, especially for him. "He was never made out of that… Before… When he worked with the man they tricked him, and made him think it was his choice when he had no choice at all." "What do you mean?" Kitty asked frantically, "In 64 they put it through him." Kitty gasped. "You mean, they made him do that?" "Yes…" Kitty knew he'd been through some things, but not anything like that. "That's crazy!" Ororo remembered then about their child inside her. She didn't want it to be affected by any stress of remembering the first time he told her about his experience. It was so painful to hear him say what they did. She hated seeing that kind of pain in him, though she knew he'd probably seen that all too much.

– PIISHHEWW – she was brought out of the memory as Kurt popped in for lunch, he scared her so she zapped him off the chair. "Aahh!" he exclaimed falling onto the floor with a thud, "Oh yeah, sorry… I didn't realize you were here." "Well yeah Kurt it's kind of annoying when you show up just like there." "Look I'm trying not to be so bad at it anymore, alright? Please have at least a little patience with me huh…" "Well, alright, it just scared me, that's all." everyone else was on their way to lunch Ororo and Kitty didn't talk about her and Logan anymore then.


	5. Secret No More!

Another month went by.

"Ororo?" Logan entered her room looking for her, she was on her bed looking down to the small mound on her stomach. She looked up smiling at him. He walked over to her, noticing more the little bump that she had. Logan sat next to her looking at her hand on her belly, he covered it with his. "What ya' thinking Ro?" He asked, she looked at him. "It's time." He nodded to her.

"Charles," He thought to him. "It's time to announce it." The Professor stopped in his tracks and listened. "Alright, what time you think we should?" He asked the two. "How about this evening, seems like a good time." Ororo suggested, Logan looked at her, they agreed on that. "Ok." "Everyone meet me in my office at 6 pm, It's important."

6:00

They all walked to the Professor's office, and entered the room. "Hello everyone." He greeted, they all greeted back. "What's up Professor?" Scott asked as they all came in, "I called you here because a couple of our teachers have a message for you." A couple students sighed, thinking it school related. He looked to Logan and Ororo nodding, Logan stepped forward, looking to his wife making sure she was final on her decision to tell them now, she looked confidently to him. "Is this another late homework assignment due?" Bobby asked, Logan looked to him bowing his head with an unusual smile. "The fact is Bobby, actually that this is a personal matter, and I must warn you that if told to someone untrustworthy it may be very costly." They all looked at each other curiously. "Logan and Ororo have an announcement to make…" "Thanks Chuck." Logan said gratefully. "Look, I know you'll all be wonderin' why we didn't tell you this earlier, but Ororo and I are married." Everyone was stone silent. Kitty smiled big, Ororo nudged him, he looked back at her then remembered. "And-" "We're having a baby." She interrupted joyfully, he smiled warmly at her joyful words. Everyone was even more amazed now. "You two are married? And havin' a baby!" Rogue said shocked, "So that's why!" Scott said, Jean looked at him with a shocked smile. "Isn't that awesome!" Kitty shouted jumping happily, the room slowly filled with the quiet noise of talking and wowing to each other as everyone realized what this meant to them, their two most experienced and strict instructors who were usually kind of tough on them were married… and would soon have a child of their own. "You knew about it?" Kirt asked, shock not leaving him yet, Kitty looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "You knew, and you didn't say anything?" Jean asked her. "Well yeah! They like asked me to keep it a secret, so I did, besides if you wanted to know about it you'd probably pick it up already… I mean, you're like telepathic." Jean raised her eyebrow at Kitty, who didn't bother to give any reason to further frustrate or amuse the redhead. "That's totally sweet!" Tabitha said loudly happy for the couple. "Yeah!" another voice joined in near her, other voices came alongside cheering.

Logan looked to Ororo who smiled back happily to him, an expression of pure joy and enlightenment showed on his face as he smiled back at her, he reached down to her hand taking it in his own and rubbing the back of it with his thumb. They looked to the kids that were now more excited than shocked. "Thank you all." She said happily appreciating their applauds. "Of course, Storm." Jean said gladly to her friend. "Yeah, we're here if you need us." Scott said beside her, the couple smiled at them. "Now you must all remember." The Professor's voice sounded in the room, the room quieted slowly, they all looked to him. "This is to be kept a secret for very important reasons… If anyone outside the mansion was to know it might put Logan, Ororo and the baby in serious danger." They all looked at each other, then to the couple who gave the announcement, confusion was on everyone's faces except for Logan, Ororo, Kitty and the Professor who knew what he meant. "Danger? What do you mean Professor?" Scott asked, the others quieted down to hear the answer. "There may be people looking for them. If they find them it would be very bad." "Who are these people Professor?" Jean piped in on the question, the other students were very anxious to know about this too. The three stayed silent, then looked to each other as if to say, Well, what's next? The Professor knew what to do though. "The people are part of a secret organization, if that organization gets word of their whereabouts, it could and very possibly would put both their lives and ours in very grave danger." Everyone stopped, eyes big looking back at him. "What do you mean Professor?" Jean asked concerned, the Professor looked to the couple who looked to each other, then nodded back to him, he turned back to the group proceeding to tell them of the organization, their mission, and why they were after them, they were all wide eyed at what they heard. They all walked out of there with three specific things that evening. Joy, shock, and fear.

Jean and Scott looked to each other surprise still on them. "Well." Said Scott walking alongside Jean. "That was an unexpected surprise." "Yeah, I wonder how long they've been hiding that." "Heh, I know right." "I'm sure if I was married I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret, I mean… I could hide it, but not as good as they have." "Yeah, me neither." Scott responded back to her, they looked to each other some consideration in both their faces as they continued walking. They went to his car as they had plans for that evening, the kids watched as they drove off. There was a movie that evening, it was a Zorro movie and many of them liked that kind of stuff. Heroes, rescuing innocent people. It made them all feel pretty good. They all got into the X-Van on the way to see the movie, Forge drove them.

Ororo and Logan watched as they all drove away from the mansion, except for them and the Professor. "Been a little while since we had a movie night, just us." Ororo commented, Logan just looked to her first, then smirked. "Ya wanna change that?" She smiled to him at his question, planting a kiss on his cheek, he smiled warmly at her action. "Ok!" He said picking her off her feet bridal style, she yelped at his action not expecting it. He held her like that as they walked out of their bedroom and down to the rec room, or rather as he walked and she rode in his arms. He set her down on the couch in front of the tv, she chuckled and smiled to him as he straightened back up. "What do you think we should watch?" She asked, he looked to be thinking for a moment. "I think I want you to choose." She squinted at him for a second. "Are you sure about that?" "Heh, I'm not the one who's five months pregnant." She nodded at his statement. "But I'm not the one who's going to be a Daddy after the remainder of my term." "But I aint gonna be the Mom." He stated back, she looked to the tv thinking. "What about Maze Runner?" He smiled and looked where she was looking. "You sure?" "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I can't stand action." "Ok." He grabbed the remote, turned the television on, switched to Netflix and selected it, he paused it before it started. "Ya want anything?" "Some coconut water?" "Anything else?" "Piece of Salmon with whipped cream." He chuckled at her request, he'd gotten use to her new preferences in food, and frankly he didn't think they were that bad, he'd had some of it himself and thought that some of them were pretty good. After going to the kitchen and getting what she'd requested and something for himself he went back and sat down next to her as they started the movie.

In his office The Professor was happy that the two had finally spilled their little secret so that they no longer had the pressure of hiding it from everyone on earth except him. He watched the two through his mind as they sat in front of the tv set watching the intro. He would've told them how proud he was that they finally shed light on the subject after all these years had they not been having some personal them time at the moment. He turned his attention to the window as the X-Van drove off the property. Though the windows were blacked out to a degree he could sense the excitement of the students, pumped to see this new movie. He smiled watching them ride out of sight. He decided to take the time he had and catch up with a friend on some details that they'd talked about before.

An hour later:

The kids were on the edge of their seats as an action scene played out in the movie they were watching, big smiles, and some concerned faces as the hero constantly evaded the weapons of his enemy, swords clashed, men ran and fought. "Oh yeah!" Kurt said excitedly. "SHHH!" Rahne hushed him, he cringed at her silencing. "Geeze, right in my ear." He announced not as loud as before, she shrugged smiling innocently, then turned back to watch the movie, he raised an eyebrow at her disapproving of her hushing for a moment, then sat back and watched. "It's too bad Zorro didn't have your flexibility Hank; this movie would be even cooler." "I think it's cool like it is." "Yeah?" "Oh yeah, if everyone was like me they wouldn't have those suspenseful scenes in movies that make all the difference when it comes to storylines." "Huh, I guess your right." Hank smiled to him as they turned back and watched on.

Back at the Mansion:

The two were still on the couch huddled close together, both sleepy and partially warn out. Him from some of the pressure of the day, and whatever other reason that somehow he couldn't pin point. Her from the pressure of being pregnant, and having to go around like everything was normal. Finally, after a little while longer the movie was over. They turned off the television set, got up, checked on each other, and made it back up to their bedroom. It was darker than before and almost pitch black in the hallways of the institute. Ororo reached for the light switch that had been so easy to find earlier. Suddenly the lights were on, they made it the rest of the way back to their room. She opened the door, and walked in, he followed, they changed, and plopped down on their bed for the evening. "Ro." Logan said quietly to her as they laid there, she looked to him. "Ya think it was a good idea to tell em?" "If we didn't the baby would have." He smiled slightly to her. "Yeah, but ya think their gonna be able to keep it a secret from everyone else?" "If they don't I know very well what you'd do." "Ya sure do." "James." She said his name softly, he looked at her. "We will be fine, I know we will." "You sure?" "Yes, I am." He tried to smile, and did some, his worry showed through his happy expression. She was worried to, he could sense this on her. They smiled to each other trying to push the anxiety down, she nuzzled into him, he put his arm around her comfortingly and looked out the window like he always did when he was looking for something to happen. A silent prayer went up that night, a prayer for continued peace and community. A prayer that pleaded to ears on high for a family to finally come through this one, and in one piece. Literally.


	6. Planning

A couple weeks passed.

Everyone was talking about plans for autumn, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. "What're you planning for Halloween?" Bobby asked Kurt, Kurt wagged his tail a bit. "I'm not sure, my family's never really celebrated it." "Never celebrated Halloween?" "Why haven't you?" Rahne asked curiously, Kurt just put his head down on his arms on the table and stared strait ahead, as if to say It's a long story. They didn't really mention anything else on the subject for a while. "Hey!" Kitty chimed in happily, they all looked to her. "You can probably go out like that, and no one will notice that it's not a costume." He looked at her suspiciously. "How do you know zat?" "Well Duh, it's like Halloween, people expect you to where stuff like that." "Not vere I come from zey don't." They felt kind of sorry for him and a little guilty at the same time. "You know, you don't have to celebrate it if you don't want to." Ororo added to the conversation, he just looked to her then back down to the table. There was silence in the room for the next few minutes. "What are you guys gonna do?" Kitty asked looking to the two, they looked at her then to each other. "We may celebrate with you." "You guys have to come to the party!" Said Bobby leaning over the table so he could see them. Logan gave him a look, Ororo put her hand on his arm. "It depends." She said laying a hand on her bump. The others understood more what she meant now that she had put some detail to it. It depended when the baby decided it was a good time to make an appearance.

As the time for the arrival of the baby approached the others couldn't help but notice the change in their teachers. It wasn't all that obvious to any onlooker, just to those who really knew the two as people. Ororo seemed to glow with a beauty that she somehow hadn't had before, she was also more protective of herself, physically, mentally and emotionally, not just for her, but also for the child growing inside of her. She was also at times a little more moody with certain people. Logan was changing as well, but not exactly like Ororo was. He still had his rough exterior, but the students started to see a softness arise slightly above the gruffness

A few weeks later:

It was about six o'clock in the evening, Jean, Kitty and Rogue had just gone off to a girls only party that was being held at a friend's house. Logan, Scott and the rest of the guys besides Xavier were in a training session outside.

Ray and Sam were running through the obstacle course that Hank and Wolverine had specially prepared for them. "Come on, there's the finish line!" Ray said loudly to Sam as they ran, Sam pounced, flying straight into the tape ripping it apart as he landed on the ground. He looked around and laid low as he prepared himself to be fired at by lasers or tennis balls. A moment later he opened his eyes and raised his head seeing nothing but his previous surroundings, and Ray panting as he finally got there. "Whoa, no booby-trapped finish line?" Sam said a little shocked. "Are you sure that… this is the finish? I mean, knowing Wolverine it could be a decoy." Ray stated as he was wide eyed and looking around same as his teammate. "Oh this is the finish line alright." Said a voice from in the trees, both boys looked to where it came from seeing a shadowy ape like figure hanging from a branch. "It's not booby-trapped either, but I suppose if you want to give Wolverine a new idea for how to make the next one, then go ahead. The kids jumped back for a second at his words. "Oh, no! I mean… No thanks… we've got plenty of training as it is with this course, and we're both kind of tuckered out." The blue man looked at them knowing what they meant. "Alright, I guess that's all for today!" He said exuberantly, the two boys cheered and high fives each other happy that this wasn't like some other training sessions that Wolverine held.

Five minutes later:

Hank and Wolverine were talking about the kids and their training earlier that day. Nobody knew this except for them, but Logan had secretly come to the furry mutant for some personal mentoring, mainly how to handle children better. He knew he was good with kids to a degree, but he wanted to make sure he was ready when his son or daughter came into the world. "You know Logan, you actually handle kids pretty well. You're kind of already like a Dad to all the ones here." Logan raised an eyebrow at Hank's statement, Hank smiled a bit at his friend's response. "It's true, Kitty and Rogue see you very much like a Father figure to them." "They told you that?" Logan asked unconvinced, "No, but I can see it all over them when they're around you, it actually shows on you as well." Logan's expression changed from sceptic to amazement as Hank told him these things, he'd always seen those two girls as if they were his own daughters for some reason. He never thought of it lightly, because he knew what a big responsibility that was.

Being a Father meant you couldn't just go around and have every freedom that you always enjoyed before… being a Father meant having dedication, and loyalty to your children, and being around when they needed you. He thought about it previously as more of a tip toe through the two lips type of subject, he knew that Ororo would probably want a child of their own some time, and he didn't have any objection to that, but he enjoyed his freedom while he had it. When Kitty came to the institute he took a particular liking to her, thinking she thought of him like an uncle or something, especially after he accidently brought them to Canada that one time before he had the chip removed from his brain. Then after that when Rogue came to the team it was almost like he saw her as a little pup without a home or family, which was true for everyone else there, but it stuck out more with her. Something just pushed him to be there for her in ways that no one else could, to be a mentor and guide, and he always knew she saw him as more than just a teacher. Now that Hank specified it, it made a lot of sense to him. Which was very encouraging.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about them." "Everyone here sees you at lease some as a Father figure, even the new recruits." "Ok… how." Logan asked looking to Hank inquisitively. For the next ten minutes Hank explained what he meant about them all both as a group and individually. Logan was dumbfounded at the end of their conversation, not knowing that he was capable of such things. They still talked about things that would make kids happy and secure though.

The next day:

Logan, Ororo and Jean were at the market the next day getting some things for the baby. They'd all gone in together, till the expecting couple had a moment, and Jean decided not to make it awkward and to go look for something. Upon finishing their moment, they looked around to see that Jean was nowhere around. "Looks like we scared her off huh." Logan said sarcastically, "Hm, I guess so, I never knew we were so scary together." He smiled at her comment giving her a kiss on the cheek. For the next few minutes they just wondered around the baby and toddler isles investigating. Getting to the area that was mostly baby clothes they couldn't help but smile at how cute they were. "Hey Ro, look at this one." He said pointing to a little onesie that said Party my crib, 2 AM bring a bottle They both laughed and picked that up as well as a bunch of other outfits for the little one on the way. Jean came back a couple minutes from then, they all continued looking for stuff that the baby would need upon arrival, car seat, diapers, baby clothes, etc. After they had just about finished They thought about getting one more that said little nipper on the front, by this time they already had about twenty pairs of clothes for their baby. "I think we have enough for little you know who down there." He looked over to the redhead, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. "We could start a collection for Red and Cyc." They both laughed out loud at that statement.


	7. Chill Time

Getting back to the mansion they collected the things out of the trunk of the X-van, gathering them into a room that was specifically for them from the Professor. They'd already moved their bed into the room, now all that was left was decorating and preparing for the baby. Jean decided to lend a hand in that as well as long as they were alright with it.

After a few hours everything was in place. Their bed was in one side of the room, while the crib for the little one was a few feet from that. Supplies for the baby was in their closet, since the baby wasn't there yet. They also had a mini fridge in their room, for the emergency midnight snack that happened occasionally, so that Ororo wouldn't absolutely have to go all the way down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for a bite to eat, which had happened the past few days. "Hey," They heard a voice call to them from the hall, they both looked to see Kitty smiling at them. "Dinner's ready." They smiled to her, "Thank you Kitty, we'll be down shortly." Ororo said, "Ok." Kitty said then turned trotting back down the hall to tell the others. They'd been so focused on the events of the day they hadn't even realized that it was this late in the day. Jean raised her head from what she was doing and looked to the two. "Hey, if you want, you could go down and eat while I arrange some more of the stuff for you guys." Logan looked to Ororo for her decision, she smiled a moment later. "Thank you Jean, that'd be wonderful." She said back to the redhead. "No problem, you guys go eat." "Thanks Red." Logan said smiling as he and Ororo entered the hall to go down to the kitchen.

They both had very full plates that evening, thankfully though the ones who were cooking had taken into account that the residential wind rider and her husband were expecting parents, so there was enough food for everyone that night, but there weren't any leftovers. But those who were still hungry could grab some fruit for themselves. After that, Jean showed them how she organized the things in their room so it would be easy to find things on their own.

The kids had suggested watching a movie before bed, everyone liked the idea, so they all gathered around the tv in the rec room as the movie started. About a half hour into the movie Jamie and a few other of the students started to drift off to sleep.

"Hey… Mr. Logan." Kitty's voice sounded in his ear, opening his eyes he saw her looking at him and Ororo. "Yeah, what's up Half Pint?" He asked rubbing his eyes. "Well, you and Ororo fell asleep during the movie." "Oh." "Yeah, sorry to wake you up but… I can't really carry you back up to your room so…" He looked down seeing his wife laying on his torso, he adjusted their position as to not wake her up, then got up stretching a little bit. "Thanks Kitty." He said as he leaned down picking Ororo up in his arms. Kitty moved out of their way; she couldn't help but think of how cute it was seeing them asleep like that. They looked like a couple of kittens, once or twice she was sure that she'd heard the Wolverine start to purr, which was probably a snore, but who knows. She ran up ahead of them going up the stairs before they did, then getting to the door, she opened it for them, Logan smiled to her as they entered the room. "Goodnight guys." She said as she closed the door, "Night Kit-Kat." He said back just as the door closed.


	8. Baby Pains

Baby pains

Ororo woke up with a bit of a start, the little one was kicking in her belly, she looked down to her 7-month-old bump that had made itself comfortable, and was starting to be a bit of a burden as far as everyday life was concerned. She didn't think of the baby as a burden at all, he or she was very much of a blessing to her and Logan. Though it made keeping her and Logan's relationship a secret impossible. Now that they had their secret out, and it was no longer a secret about them it actually took a lot of weight off. She knew they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for very long. She remembered the first time she'd told anyone about it, all those years ago.

It was the night that Logan had proposed to her. She'd never expected that to happen, she'd always thought that she'd marry a man from her tribe, not someone from outside Africa, who was white. Not anyone who was as amazing as this man. She knew about his claws, healing factor, age, past, and monstrous demeanor, as well as other things. But she never felt endangered by him… if anything she felt safer when she was around him. They'd known each other for a long time, she knew he felt safe and comforted around her as well.

When he asked her, she beamed with joy. She could hardly fathom his request at first, but then as time went on and they embraced she accepted. A little later that night as she looked up at the stars she smiled. "Thank you God… for this. Thank you for putting such a wonderful man in my life, and letting us have such a wonderful relationship." She bowed her head allowing a tear to slide down her cheek. She heard footsteps behind her, then turned a moment later seeing her sister there. She smiled to her happily, then sat down next to her. "You seem extra joyful tonight Ororo, what is it… something go on between you and your boyfriend over there?" Ororo smiled at Vivian's question, blushing obviously, Vivian couldn't help her curiosity rising at her sister's expression. "Ooh, what happened? Come on Ororo, you've got to tell me about it." She said smiling, Ororo turned to her and tried to tone down the color in her expression, it worked only a little bit. "Alright… yes it does have something to do with us." "Us?" "Yes." Ororo said nodding, "Hm, this sounds interesting, tell me more." "Well… we… he asked me to marry him." She watched as the other woman's eyes got wide. "He what!?" Ororo nodded happily, "No way!" "Yes." "He really did?!" "I just told you that!" Ororo said playfully to her sister." "Oh my Gosh! I'm so excited for you!" They laughed and celebrated together.

Ororo was brought out of her memory by the feeling of something brushing her hair. Opening her eyes she saw a hand pass over her face, pulling back to it's owner, then reaching out to the bump on Ororo's stomach. She looked to her husband smiling, then placing her hand on top of his. "Did I wake you dear?" He shook his head, then pointed down to the little one inside. "I guess our little one wanted their Daddy up early today huh." "Hmm, Yeah. Guess she wants to come out and meet her parents soon." She looked curiously at him, "You sure it's a girl?" "I just got a feelin like it is." She smiled to him, "You may be right." Her face tensed slightly the next moment, his expression turned from happy to concerned as well. "What is it Ro?" "Just a little pain." She said as her face went back to normal, "Like a contraction?" He asked rising and setting himself down on his shoulders. "Logan, it's fine. I don't think I'm exactly going into labor yet." "You sure?" "If it's anything, I'm sure it's just practice contractions for when the baby does come." She explained trying to calm him down, the look on his face showed that it only worked a little bit. The sky started to darken with clouds, as she did her best to push the painful expression off her face, seeing the darkening sky out their window he insisted. "Are you sure?" She looked into his expression for a moment, it was moments like this that left her so amazed that she had a man who was so concerned for her wellbeing, and loved her so deeply that he would do anything in the world to make her even a little more comfortable and secure. "I believe so." He exhaled sharply a moment later allowing her understanding to trump his. "Ok." He said, though he was still unsure about her statement.

She turned to rise a moment later, "what is it?" He asked, she looked at him laughing a little bit. "It's ten o'clock Jim, the others are probably wondering where we are." "They'll probably understand if we come out later." "Yes, but I want something to eat." "We have the mini fridge up here you could get something from." "That's for emergencies my dear." "Being hungry can qualify as an emergency Princess." "I suppose." She said turning to get up. She didn't necessarily want to be up and around the others yet but being 7 months pregnant and hungry, she didn't have much of a choice but to get up. Though she liked her husbands advice, and took it gratefully.

Going to the little mini fridge that he was talking about earlier she got a plate off the top of it, then opened it getting two chicken wings, a few apple slices that Logan had cut for her the previous day, and some mashed potatoes. After getting these, she sat down on the side of their bed and ate. Logan yawned stretching his arms out over the length of the bed, he then rose and moved closer to her. As she ate he ran his fingers through her hair, combing it gently, she always loved it when he did this, when he defied what he defined as his monstrous nature to be beautifully gentle with her. She let the feeling of the light pull from his hands lull her mind back into peace from the pressure the baby was putting on her muscles. He started a fishtail braid, they worked in silence, her on the food, and him on her hair.

"Logan." Ororo asked after about five minutes of silence, "Hm." He responded softly. "What have you thought of for names my dear?" He stayed silent for a moment thinking. "I'm not sure… What are you thinking?" He asked continuing her braid. "I was thinking of Josiah, if it's a boy… But, since you are sure that it is a girl… what about Jessica?" "Jessica…" He paused for a moment, "That's a good name." He commented and then continued working with her hair, leaning in placing a kiss on the back of her head, she smiled as she felt the warmth from his lips on her scalp. After a couple minutes he finished her braid, she then finished her food. They stayed there for a little while longer before they decided to make an appearance.


	9. A Gift in Love

The next day they got up at about the same time, got ready, and did the things of the day, some of the kids though participating in the chosen activities were a bit testy on Ororo. Thankfully for them she was very well managed and contained, so though she dealt with the occasional mood swing she didn't react at them, rather took her time away by herself to process what had been going on in her mind and emotions.

In preparations for their little one Logan started looking into some different things for Ororo, for when the little one was about to be brought into the world. He knew what it was like when she was sad, or angry, or even a little down. It affected everyone in a different way, even if they didn't know it… he knew if affected him, it irritated him to think that she wasn't as happy as she could be. It made him want to do whatever he could to change it, which sometimes led to long solo sessions in the danger room.

Many times she couldn't express the true emotions of her heart because of the weather connection. She didn't talk about it much, and she didn't talk about it as a burden, but he knew otherwise. He saw the look in her eyes when she wanted to cry, or was mad, or happy. She couldn't ever let it come out because of that stupid powers link. Though he was happy that she wouldn't cry for absolutely no reason, there were some times when he wished he could just hold her when she cried, rather than her having to hold it in, or take the X-jet somewhere uninhabited so she wouldn't put lives in danger when she vented. Now that she was 7 months along with their 1st child that feeling came again… he had to do something! But… there was something on his mind, that just might work. He was walking down the hall to the kitchen when he got a message from the Professor

'Logan'

'Yeah Chuck?'

'It's ready.'

'K, I'll be up in a moment.'

Logan got to the kitchen by the time the message reached him. Rogue and Kurt were in there making toast. "Hey Logan." Rogue said seeing him, he smiled to her, something that he wasn't always used to, but since revealing the fact of his and Ororo's marriage and coming child he found it easier to do that with almost everyone. He thought that was weird, but Ororo added a comforting thought to his mind. "Logan." She said laughing when he told her about it, "It just proves that you're truly good natured, despite what titles or… former masters may have said." He smiled at her words that came back to his mind now.

He turned going up the stairs and to the Professor's office, he walked in a moment later. "Hello Logan." "Hey Doc." They greeted each other, the thing that he'd talked to the Professor about was in hand and ready to go. "It's finished?" He asked approaching the man at the desk. "Yes, I've worked out any bugs that may have been a factor as you asked." Logan reached his hand out to the Professor who gave him the object in question, he examined it closely looking at the beads and patterns on it. "You know, I'm very happy that you had this idea Logan, and that you had the gall to try it out." "Yeah, well thanks for going along with it Chuck, couldn't've done it without you." They talked about it for the next few minutes, then Logan left the office to go find his wife.

Ororo was down in the garden watering the plants, she'd done the best to handle the students well that day, though they hadn't all been easy to deal with. She couldn't blame them for everything she was feeling… part of it was just old fashioned mood swings that any Mother-to-be would be having. It rained hard outside as she did her best to let the rain fall gently on the flowers and plants. The baby kicked and wrestled itself inside her, she put her hand on her stomach rubbing gently as thunder clapped just beyond the glass. "Ro." She heard a voice behind her, turning to look she saw him. "You ok?" She turned around again, facing the windows and nodded, he walked towards her, then put his arms around her comfortingly. "Hard day?" "How'd you know?" He turned his face from outside to his mate in his arms. "I can sense it all over ya Darlin." "It's that obvious?" "Not to everyone… just me." "Why do you have to be so sensitive…" She asked turning around in his grasp, feeling self-conscious. "Because I love ya, that's why." She sighed and leaned back in his grasp. He couldn't think of a better time to give her the gift.

"Hey Ro." "Hm." She asked still leaning on him. "I got something for ya." She looked at him curiously. "Stay here." He instructed her, she did her best not to move from the spot she was in, just standing waiting for what he was going to give her. As she continued looking forward, she saw a necklace drop over her face and down to her neck. "Logan." Ororo started but was hushed. "What do you think of it?" He asked looking to her, she looked down to it, not being able to see the full thing. Logan unsheathed his claws, angling them in a certain direction so that they became like a mirror to her so that she could see her reflection in them. It's colors went perfect with her skin, eyes, hair, and everything else. There were two Gold stones on the sides of the necklace, blue above those, purple below the gold, and then a big white seashell at the bottom. She looked at them for a few more seconds, then up to Logan. "It's very beautiful." She said smiling at him, "You like it?" He asked gazing at her with a peaceful smile on his face. "I love it." She replied smiling back to him.

He helped her in the garden for a little while after that, pruning and weeding her plants. "Hey Ro." He spoke up after a few moments of silence. "Yes." "Any of these need to be watered anymore?" She'd taken care of watering them when the rain was starting to come down, and as far as she knew they were fine for the day. "No, they've all been watered." "Good." He said back to her. She looked up from the petunia plant she was working on, putting the tool aside. Something was different… nothing was wrong, it was just different. Looking out the window she saw the sun beaming down on them through the windows of the greenhouse. The sun? It was raining elephants just moments before, and now it was sunny?… She stood to her full height, looking out the window, puddles laid on the ground as birds sang and squirrels chirped. She felt eyes on her, then turned her head looking to her husband, he smiled proudly at her. She tilted her head slightly squinting at him. "How?" She asked knowing he had something to do with it. He made his way over to her wrapping his arms around her waist. "I got a neutralizer." She looked up to him. "But why?" He gave her the look she knew all too well as concern and love. "Do my powers bother you that much?" She asked tears showing in her eyes, she turned her face away from him trying to force her emotions back down, Logan lifted his arm raising his hand to her face cupping it. "No!" He said quickly, turning her face back to him. She hesitated at first resisting him, but then gave in. "No. I did it because… I know what you deal with… I see you when you're sad, depressed, mad." She looked into his eyes seeing more what he meant. "I hate seeing you suffer Ro, when you've gotta act like everything's ok when it's not, just to save others from a little wind n' rain." "A little?" He smiled to her innocently. "You think that a tornado is a little wind?" "It depends on the tornado darlin… the ones you use to carry yourself around seems pretty tame." "They do…" she said matter of factly. "But… Ro, I don't want you to feel like you have to hold your emotions in, not like that. I want you to be free… I want you to be able to express your heart to me, or even by yourself without fear if any kind… I love you." A smile started to spread across Ororo's face as she listened to the heart of her mate, she knew he was being honest with her. She let out a sob of joy as she launched herself onto him throwing her arms around him landing a passionate kiss on his lips. He held her tightly to himself as he deepened their kiss, a whole minute later they separated. It left both of them dizzy for a moment, hanging onto each other for stability. "I love you too James." She said looking deep into his eyes, they came together for another kiss.


	10. Life Happens

Ever since he'd given her that necklace she felt like she was falling more in love with him, it didn't seem possible, she'd already loved him so much, there was no such thing as a truer love than they had with and for each other, it was just impossible… and yet, here she was talking to herself about this, and how real it was. A few times when she thought of it she could feel the baby doing somersaults inside her temporary home down there.

They'd gone to Hank a little while ago and found out officially that Logan was right, it was a girl, and right now, Ororo was sure that she had a healing factor just like her Dad, because for the past day she'd been moving constantly. Ororo had to stop a class a couple times so she could deal with some unforeseen nausea that insisted on being taken care of. Though Ororo knew that Logan knew how thankful she was to him for the present he'd given her she wished she could thank him so much more… she felt so much better to not have to think about what the weather would be like if she fostered a certain thought, or allowed her mood to get the best of her which didn't happen very often if ever.

After her class was over she had the desperate urge to pee, so she did her best not to run to the ladies room, though no one would blame her if she did… having a 7½ moth old baby resting on her bladder would put anyone in that situation. After doing her business and washing her hands she put her hands on her stomach rubbing gently where the baby was. "I can't wait to meet you in person my little Jessica." She said smiling down to her now almost overgrown bump. "Your Father and I have waited very long for you to come into our lives… I know you'll love your Father, he's one of the most wonderful men anyone will ever meet. I'm so happy that God decided to send you to us." She said, her eyes started to mist over with joy, as she silently said a prayer of thanks for hearing her request for a child. She'd had times like this in days that to anyone else would seem like regular days in the life of a mutant/mom-to-be, but to her they were everything but regular, they were wonderful extraordinary days that she was amazed to witness. She'd talked to the little one in her belly numerous times, mostly when she was alone, or with Logan, she knew he knew about it… and she'd caught him doing it too, both in secret and outright. She remembered waking up one night at about 5:00 AM to feel his hand gently laid on her stomach, with him whispering things to the baby quietly, she stayed as still and silent as possible as to not cause an interruption in their little conversation. A couple times when they did this the little one kicked and stretched inside her and though Ororo couldn't officially hear it, she'd talk back to them, in little coo's and squeaks that her parents celebrated joyfully.

"Hey Ororo." Rogue said getting her attention, the woman looked toward the door of the restroom, seeing the teen. "Vivian's on the phone, d' you want me ta have her call back?" Ororo's ears perked up, Vivian hadn't called in a while, and Ororo was very happy to hear that her sister was getting back to her. "No, thank you Rogue, I'll be out in a moment." Rogue nodded to her, then exited out the door. Taking one last look in the mirror she thought about something. She looked good, besides the bump that was so obvious now, and the fact that she felt so fat and about ready to just pop sometimes. She had herself, God and Logan to thank for that. God for creating her with a perfect body that she wouldn't trade with anyone else, her husband for making sure that she always got enough of everything she needed no matter the cost or the pressure that she gave him for it, and herself for always doing the best to take care of herself in every way she could. She smiled to herself in the mirror as she walked out of the door and gratefully took the phone from Rogue.

"Hello Vi, how have you been?" She answered her sister's silence. "How am I!? How are you? I'm not the one who's just about to have a baby." Ororo laughed at her sister's comment, "Yes, I guess you're right, I am well." "Just well?" "Well, as you said Vivian, I am going to have the baby soon." Vivian laughed out loud at Ororo repeating her words. "Yes. How has everyone been treating you?" "Well. They're treating me like they would usually, except for a little more tender now that the news is out." "You should've told them about that when you first found out, not waited all that time." Vivian said correctively to Ororo. "I wanted to… we both wanted to, but…" "But what?" There was silence for the next few seconds. "Ororo?" She didn't want to tell her sister about it, for the sake of not worrying her. "It's nothing." She said trying to dismiss the whole detail and act like it was nothing. "Ororo, if you say something in that tone you and I both know it's not nothing, so tell me." Ororo prepared herself emotionally for the next part of the conversation. "Do you remember when… when I told you about Logan?" "Which part? You tell me a lot about him." "Hm-hm, I guess I do." More silence for a couple seconds. "Which part Ororo." "When I told you about… when he was, weaponized?" "Oh, yes I remember." The line was again silent for the next few seconds. "The people who did it to him…" "Yes?" "…They're looking for him." "What? But how? Why?" "Some stupid theory that worm had!" "How could anyone think like that!?" Ororo closed her eyes shaking her head quietly, the pain from the memory seeping back into her soul. They discussed the subject a little more, before skipping it and getting to something lighter and more happy for the sake of the baby.

"So, what'd you find out?" "About what?" Ororo asked Vivian through the phone. "About the baby silly. Is it a boy or a girl? I need to know so I can get the appropriate birthday gift for them." "Oh?" "Yes, how much baby stuff do you have?" Ororo laughed on her side of the phone, "Enough I'm sure." "Baby clothes?" "20 pairs." "Diapers?" "A third of our closet full." "Baby food?" "She's not even here yet." "She!" Vivian said victoriously over the phone. "I thought you'd tell me!" Ororo shook her head sighing to herself at how persistent her sister could be sometimes. "You have enough baby blankets?" "Yes, well… not too many, but enough to keep her warm and protected during the cold months of winter." "No worries, we'll get you some more!" Vivian said happily to her sister, then went and made a shopping list of things for her little niece. "Oh, you are incorrigible Vi." "Love you to sis." Ororo laughed at her again. There was a sudden pang in her gut that was slightly more than the others around it, knowing this she told Vivian that she had to get off the phone. "Is something wrong?" Vivian asked concerned, Ororo pushed down the feeling or thought of anything being amiss. "No, it's just a little false labor, everything's fine." She said trying to convince her sister that everything truly was ok. Just then another rush of pain came over her, she gripped her stomach with one hand and the wall with the hand that the phone was in. "Are you sure?" "I… I don't know, I think it is." "Is Logan there?" Concern was all over Vivian's tone as she asked the question. "N-no." "Anyone else?" "I don't think so…" "Find the Doc Ororo, have him check on you." "I'm sure it's fine Vi…" "Being sure isn't the same as knowing Ororo. Don't make me call the Professor again after this and have him send someone to find you wherever you are in the mansion Ororo, cause I will do that!" "Alright." She said as another wave of pain washed over her, forcing her to hunch over almost gasping. "I'll stay on the line with you until you get there."


	11. Scares

Logan walked to the door planning to go into the nearby woods for a stroll. He got outside letting go of the handle and taking in the cool fall air, it was November 6th and the trees had yielded their leaves to the will of the season and snow had already started to fall. He started walking when suddenly he felt something, it was like a sudden slight coldness in his chest. He knew without a single doubt. Ororo… He turned on his heels rushing back inside almost running over Bobby and Ray. "Whoa Logan! What's going on?" Bobby asked narrowly avoiding being trampled. He didn't answer, just kept running. He sniffed the air sensing her trail. 'Logan, she's in hall B downstairs.' The Professor told him telepathically, he turned heading in the direction of the stairs. 'Thanks Chuck!' He thought back, rushing to where he'd told him.

Ororo gripped the corner of the wall trying to steady herself the pain hadn't worsened yet, but she feared what it could be. She wasn't to the end of her term yet, so she couldn't be having the baby right now… could she? She thought about the possibility to keep her mind occupied from any other thoughts of anything that could go wrong. She gasped again hearing footsteps rushing towards her.

Logan jumped down the stairs not caring for the process of taking each step by step, getting to the bottom his ears caught the sound of stressed rugged breaths, he knew the voice and the breath. Looking to his side he saw her. "Logan!" She called to him, without a second hesitation he sprinted to her scooping her up in his arms, then turning and sprinting back, leaping up the stairs, almost tripping over his feet twice. Getting up the stairs he was met by Hank. "Logan, how is-" "I don't know Hank!" He said interrupting him mid-sentence, they both rushed to the med lab as quick as their legs could carry them. As they ran Vivian did her best to calm her sister, telling her everything would be alright, and she'd be there as soon as possible, Ororo tried to get out something like "No you don't have to do that." Though only half of it actually got out before there was another sharp pain. "No complaints Ororo, I'm coming!" Vivian insisted, being already in go clothes as she left a note on the counter for her husband when he got back from work. She ran outside about jumped in the car, and put her phone in its holder, making sure it was on speaker so she could hear everything that was going on, and so she could be there if Ororo needed more support.

Unable to object Ororo listened to her sister as she started her car and was on her way to the institute. A minute later she was being laid down on the table in the med lab. Hank turned to get some of his medical tools, meanwhile they had drawn a bit of an audience, as Evan, Bobby, Kitty, Rogue and Jamie were outside looking in the door. "What's going on? Is something up with Aunty O?" Evan asked nervously stepping into the room, a couple of the others tried to follow, but were stopped when Logan turned to them glaring. "Porcupine…" He said looking to him in a what are you doing herekind of look. "I just want to make sure she's ok, Uncle Logan, Honest." Logan knew he was telling the truth, he was always very close to his Aunt, trying to protect her in whatever ways he could. Ororo looked toward him. "Evan." She said holding out her hand to him, he moved forward to her side. "Are you ok?" He asked concerned to her, she nodded, sure that it was going to be alright in the end. "Yes… I am alright, how about you and the others wait outside." He gave her a look of are you sure? She responded with an assuring look to him. He nodded agreeing and walked back outside giving his Uncle one more glance, Logan smiled to the teen as he looked to him, knowing he was only wanting to make sure that everything was ok. Ororo handed him the phone, telling him to tell his Mom that everything would be fine, he took it, then was out of the room the next moment, taking the others with him, Logan went to the door closing it, then jumped back to his wife's side. "She's having contractions, Logan." Hank said looking up to him, Ororo looked to Hank unsure. "But… I thought they were just practice ones. I'm not that close, am I?"


	12. A Little Patience

"How far apart have you been having them lately?" Hank asked, she thought for a moment, she hadn't really realized how far apart they had been since she was talking to her sister which hadn't been that long. "I'm not sure, fifteen minutes maybe." She remembered what he'd told her about if she'd had contractions ten minutes apart or less. "It hasn't even been that long…" "True, but babies do often choose their own time to come into the world, It's not always that convenient, but…" "How long do we have?" Logan asked looking at the blue guy. "I'm not sure, has her water broken yet?" Ororo shook her head slightly, "No." She said calming more. "Not yet." Hank had a serious look on his face. "What is it Blue?" Logan asked the Doctor. "Ororo, were you at all stressed when you started having pain?" She didn't have to think, she knew, explaining to her sister about how Weapon X was searching for Logan and anyone else who had been with them in the past had pulled a nerve that refused to be comforted. She nodded to him in response. "If you don't mind my asking, what was it?" Asked Beast looking her in the eyes, she looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it Hank." The Scientist nodded to her approving of her request. "Alright Ororo, but I have to advise you not to let things bother you now… as a Mother to be you are more fragile than you were before, and it's vital for the baby that you do your best to balance yourself in every way you can till your term is up. Understand?" She nodded not looking at him. "I'm sorry if I upset you, I just want to make sure that your baby is safe and healthy." He said apologetically, "I understand Hank… thank you for your concern." She looked up at him halfway into her sentence, he smiled at her in response. "Would you like something to relax?" "That would be nice." "Alright." Hank got something to make Ororo relax and rest for a little while.

Waking up she looked around, out the window she saw it was dark outside, she then looked to the other side of her where she saw her husband slumped in the chair beside her. Smiling to him she reached her hand up to remove a loose hair from in front of his face, she then pulled her hand back to herself. Looking to the clock on the wall she could barely see it since the only light in the room was from the lamp on her right. Straining her eyes she saw that it was about 2:00 in the morning. It shocked her to see that she had slept so long. She wasn't exactly tired at the moment, but she wasn't all the way awake either. "It's not time to get up yet darlin'." She heard a voice from her side, she looked over to see Logan now sitting up straight in his chair. "How ya feeling?" "Stretched, how about you?" "Rested." He responded reaching up to his face and rubbing his left eye. "That's good." She said back, as she turned her head to him. They talked for a few minutes, she was getting hungry, so she was about to get up and get a bite to eat. "What're you doing?" "I'm hungry Logan…" "You stay here, I'll get something for you." "But-" "No buts. I'll be back in a minute." He said getting up, she laid there looking out the door, she couldn't believe that she'd slept so long. The wind was howling outside, there was a silhouette of an owl outside, just sitting on a branch as the wind made it sway back and forth. She watched as it sat there seemingly watching her, she couldn't help but wonder why it was there… surely there were other safer places in the trees where it could perch and be untouched by the nighttime breeze. She closed her eyes momentarily as a wave of tiredness washed over her. Opening her eyes again she saw that the owl's eyes were a yellow shade. It was nothing unusual for an owl since they're nocturnal by nature, but the one thing that put her on edge was that they were glowing, not just regular. One thing crossed her mind then. Mystique. She moved to sit up, the creature at the window moved just out of sight. 'What's she doing here?' She asked herself quietly, she heard the subtle footsteps of her husband as he came to the entrance of the room. She kept her gaze out the window just long enough to see the "bird" fly off into the wind.

Noticing her uneasiness he looked to where she was looking just in time to see an owl fly off into the distance. Seeing this he felt the same insecurity as she did, that was no owl. She turned to look at him seeing the expression on his face she knew he saw it as well. "Do you think it was?" She asked with a concerned look on her face, he looked to her on the bed, his eyes answering her question. He was sure it was, but he didn't want to think of that at the moment, even still, he knew that if they wanted to keep each other and their family he was going to have to protect them. A million conscious and subconscious thoughts went through his mind in that moment. Thoughts about the dreaded Weapon X, about their enemies, their true friends, their future, past, present, and everything else that concerned them in that moment. Was he going to have to go back to being the tool to protect them? To insure their security. "James." He heard his real name called softly, he looked down to the host of that voice. Ororo was looking at him concerned, like she knew what was going on in his head somehow, he did his best to calm himself and focus on that moment, not the endless possibilities of the future. "Hm?" He made the sound to her, asking her what it was, though he knew all too well what he was thinking. "your claws…" She said Looking at him understanding his need to block her and their unborn child from any harm that would try and come their way. He looked down to his hands seeing that the edges of his claws were peeking out of his fists. "It's ok Jim, we're not in danger right now, you've done a good job keeping us safe, thank you my husband." She watched as his eyes slowly started to turn back to their normal color from a darker more savage state. "I think little Jessie's very proud of her Daddy." She said knowing it would break him out of whatever funk he was in, he turned to face her, looking at her curiously his eyes normal now. "Can't you hear her?" She said knowing that what she said was true. He came closer putting down the tray of food that he brought for her on the fold out table that was next to the bed. He sat down next to her as if unsure of what she had said and its validity. "Listen." she said leaning back for him to put his ear to her stomach, he leaned in, so his ear was to her belly. A moment later his face went from its regular expression to delighted, she could feel the warmth from him radiating now at the joy and love that just reentered the room. He rubbed his face against her tummy gently trying to snuggle the little one through her Mother's skin. Ororo couldn't help but be touched by his sweetness toward both her and their daughter in the moment. She ran her fingers through his thick charcoal mane soothingly as his breathing started sounding more like a steady purr rather than just the intake and exhale of oxygen. They stayed like that for a couple more moments before he turned his head and kissed the bump that the little one was giftwrapped inside. His eyes said everything to her after that moment… thank you, I love you, etc.

It wasn't long after that that she started to eat the food that he brought her, he sat silently watching her as she ate. His gaze alternated from her to the window. Though she didn't want him to worry about her or them she knew he was doing his best to protect them, and she couldn't thank him enough for that, though she could protect herself well enough when she had to and the others were of course as well, but not as much as he was. She took a moment looking back at the quote from Corinthians that she'd come across every now and then, "There are three things that will endure – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love." 'God sure is wise to let Paul write that…' She thought. Love truly was everything that he described. It gave strength, and endurance, and the will to accomplish what was once impossible before. It didn't take long for them to get sleepy again and eventually fall asleep in each other's arms.

She woke up again with the urge to empty her bladder, she slowly rose from the bed, feeling like a balloon that was over filled and about to pop. She exhaled hard as she stretched backward, then walked to the bathroom and did her business. She looked in the mirror as she washed her hands, she turned to dry them. Seeing herself there with the baby bulge, made her feel fat. There was a knock on the door, she jumped startled. "Ro, you in there?" Logan's voice came from behind the door. "How did you know…" She said sarcastically, "It's a gift." He gently pushed open the door and peered inside. "You didn't have to track me here…" She said turning away from him. "Ya weren't there when I woke Princess… wanted to make sure you were safe." "I'm fine Logan." "Ya sure?" "Yes, I'm very sure." They looked to each other through the mirror. "I'm so fat." Ororo said looking at herself, Logan smirked to her. "I like you this way." Ororo looked at him confused, "What?" She asked staring at him. "I like ya any way ya are Darlin." "Oh, I'm sure…" She said sarcastically "Ro." He said turning her head to him. "You really like the fact that I'm fat right now…" "I love ya regardless of how ya look n feel." Though she felt bleh, she knew he meant what he said and would probably stake his life one it regardless of what she thought. She nodded to him understanding what he meant by this, "I guess…" He rested his head against hers as he placed his hands on her stomach rubbing gently. "Our little one's gonna change our lives Ro." She just looked to his hands putting her hands ontop of them. She couldn't help but smile as she heard the soft purr emanating from him as he held her. A little while later she went downstairs getting something to eat. She felt uncomfortable sitting or lying somewhere all the time, so she needed to get up and stretch her legs every now and then, though Hank told her what he'd told her about being too active, or stressed out at any time she felt she knew her limits, and everyone understood the need to be active at least a little bit. Since her sister was there at the time she stuck close to Ororo and did everything with her unless it was taking a bath or shower, or something very personal like that.

The Professor wheeled into the kitchen, seeing Ororo raiding the fridge, with Vivian standing close by, she gave a quick smile to him, "Hello Professor." She said, he smiled back "Hello Vivian." "Hello Ororo." He said looking to her, she gave a peek over the fridge door seeing him. "Hello Charles." She said back. "How are you feeling?" "Ready to get this baby out." She said, he chuckled lightly. "I'm sure you are." "Ha, not without me there Ro." Vivian stated teasing She ate as they talked for a short while, Ororo and her sister then headed over to the garden.

Logan, though still the head trainer, and guardian of the mansion decided to hand over the responsibilities of training the students to Scott and postpone any of his personal training of the X-men till after the baby was born. He thought about it when she'd gotten closer than 6½ months to having the baby and decided that it would be the best course of action if he paused training for now, and resumed after the baby was successfully delivered. Scott was happy to take the position of head trainer, even if it was a temporary position. He wasn't wild or untamed as Logan in any way, but he knew he could handle the position since he was already the head of the Beta team. Jean was very confident that he would do amazing, and so was Logan. The others were happy that Logan wouldn't be the one who was training them for at least the next few months. But they did regret it a little bit when Scott made it his normal dialect to talk about training, and battle techniques, along with the normal school of the day, and homework.

Vivian followed Ororo as she was about to go up to their room, when she stopped, feeling weird. She felt as if she had suddenly lost control of her bladder, feeling a little embarrassed, her face flushed a little bit, but as she looked down to see what happened she realized that may not have been the accurate conclusion. She looked to her feet seeing a fairly sized puddle at her feet. She then realized what happened, the thought wasn't that much of a shock, but it gave her a bit of a start, the two sisters looked to each other.

"My water broke…"


	13. Baby!

Ororo stayed as calm as she could as Vivian and her walked up the stairs as calm as possible, feeling the water make the skirt she had on stick to her legs. Suddenly there was a contraction mid step, she bowed clutching her belly as the pain started to subside. "Ok Ro, where's Kurt." Her sister said as kind of a comic relief, however thankfully he was coming down the hall. "Ororo?" Kurt asked coming into view and seeing them there, hearing his voice Ororo looked to him. "Kurt… port me to… the med lab… now!" She almost yelled the last word. Suddenly realizing the situation, he jumped to her side reaching for her hand then ported to the room she asked for. "Ororo, what–" She did her best to straighten up a little a moment later, "Go get Hank… and Logan." She stayed as calm as she could while instructing him. "You mean… you're having the baby now?" He asked shock covering his features. "Yes Kurt, now please." "Just a moment Ororo!" Kurt said as he disappeared to find them.

Logan had felt that something was up with Ororo and was on his way up from the danger room where he and Scott were having an impromptu lesson that couldn't wait. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke in the elevator. "Sorry Logan, Ororo needs you!" Kurt said as he grabbed the man with barely any time to brace himself, the next thing he knew he was in the med lab, Kurt poofed away the next moment. Looking around he saw Ororo doing some breathing exercises that they'd gone through with Hank, he was at her side in a fraction of a second. A minute later Kurt reappeared with the blue furry man, who then dusted himself off and went to work getting his equipment ready for the task before him. Meanwhile Logan helped her to change into a hospital gown and did his best to make her comfortable in every way he could. She looked at him smiling warmly, Vivian came up to her a couple moments after getting her gown on. She smiled big, "Looks like my little niece has decided to come now." Ororo smiled to her sister who was eager to meet the baby.

The next while was eventful, full of contractions, painful transitions and other things that Ororo had never before thought that she would experience… After the labor had passed and she was nearly to the happy part, all that was left was the breathing, and pushing the little one out of her.

"Come on Ororo, you can do this!" Jean said encouraging as she tried to raise Ororo's spirit and get her to work with them. She hadn't given out, but she was tired… and everything hurt, as it would for a woman giving birth. Logan lent her his hand so she could let off all the stress and pressure from the pain. "You're almost there Storm." Jean said happily preparing to get the baby, "Breathe Ro, breath." Logan reminded her, she then took a deep breath not sure how long she'd gone without air. "Ok Ororo, when I say push, you push alright." Hank said as he and Jean waited to receive the little one. Logan petted her hair as she prepared to do as he said. "Alright Ororo, push!" He gave the signal, she did as he asked, doing her best to push as hard as she could, she pushed a couple times, suddenly running tired, muscles sore. "You're almost there Storm, come on!" Jean urged her on, she took another big breath as Logan reminded her, then gave another push. "She's almost out Ororo! One more, you got this." Hank encouraged. Seeing how stressed she was, Logan moved to another method of encouragement. He leaned in wrapping his free arm around and above her head, gently petting her cheek. "We're almost done Baby, it's ok… you got this, just one more push." He whispered in her ear assuringly, then placed a couple kisses on her face. She gathered the strength from him, took another deep breath, and gave it her all. A couple moments later she stopped taking another breath exhausted, her efforts were paid off a moment later when a small cry reached her ears.

She breathed heavily for a minute, then shallower as a smile graced her face, her eyes lit up on the brink of tears, as did his. "Congratulations Ororo, Logan… you have a beautiful baby girl." The two looked to each other joyfully, Logan placed a gentle kiss on her forehead lovingly as Jean gently grabbed the squirming infant as she cried and squealed, upset that she'd left her comfort place for the past 9 months. After cleaning her up, there was one more step to be taken before they could hand her over to her Mom and Dad. "Logan." Jean said getting his attention, he softened even more as he saw his newly born daughter. "Would you like to do the honors?" She held up part of the umbilical cord, adding context to her statement, he wasn't sure about it for a moment. looking back to his wife she gave him an assuring look that told him everything he needed to know. "Go ahead." He smiled to her, then went forward, unsheathing his first claw on his right hand just a couple inches, then slicing through the cord that tied Mother to daughter. The little one was still fussing but wasn't connected anymore. They quickly sealed off the cord and then Jean handed her to her Mother. "Congratulations Ororo, Logan." Jean said happily, looking to her. The tears and stress spots that had shown on Ororo's face started to fade as the smile grew across her face at the first sight of their child. Hank and Jean cleaned her up while she and her husband were busy welcoming their little one to earth. "Hello my little one…" Ororo said softly as she cradled the baby to her chest, she was still crying slightly, though the blanket that she'd been wrapped in warmed and comforted her. Logan watched closely at the little one's actions and motions, doing his best make sure that she was perfectly fine in every way possible. She hadn't been outside her Mother for five minutes and already he'd been overtaken by overprotective parental love.

She had a little fuzzy tuft of black hair on the top of her head, her skin was a golden tan, and her eyes were a beautiful aqua blue. Her cries would've sounded like any other baby's cries, except to her parents, who felt they could distinguish her voice from a thousand others. Her Mother was overwhelmed with joy and love, cradling her newborn in her arms protectively. Hank and Jean did the rest of the things they needed to do for the parents and their baby, including giving her, her official legal name. Soon the little one was snug suckling at her Mom's breasts. The three were left alone in the room with each other. As soon as the baby started having her first meal, Hank and Jean were practically forced out of the room by her Father who demanded that his wife get the privacy she deserved in that special moment. Ororo didn't mind having the company, but she knew that their personal space was also important… and thankfully the two agreed.

There was a comfortable silence in the room for the next few moments, the only sounds were of the monitors keeping track and record of Ororo's breathing and heartbeat. She ran her hand gently over the baby's head petting her hair softly. "She is so beautiful." "Just like her Momma." She looked up at him smiling happily. "Thank you Logan." There was a very slight look of confusion on his face. "For what Darlin?" "For this, for the gift of being a Mother." "Thank you for having me." He smiled back to her. "If you really wanna thank someone for makin ya a Mom, ya might want to look up then…" Understanding what he meant, she took a moment in prayer, thanking the one who created her for their new little gift that had claimed a piece of each of their hearts. At the end of the prayer the little one made a little squeak, making her parents chuckle.

A little bit later there was a knock on their room door, they looked to each other. He wasn't sure about company yet, but Ororo seemed to be fine about it. "Come in." Logan announced so that Ororo wouldn't have to. Hank opened the door, revealing the faces of the students and family. "Umm, I told them that you two need your time and rest, however they insisted on at least seeing if you two, um, three… I mean, were willing to see them." Logan had a bit of a disapproving look on his face, but Ororo was calm. "Ro?" He asked her, knowing that she might want to play it like she was completely fine when she wasn't. "We should let them in my love, so they can meet the newest member of our family." Though Logan was not as fond of the idea of others being in her personal space at the moment, they both wanted them to meet their daughter. He turned back to the others at the door, giving a smirk. "Give us about five minutes?" He said, "Alright." Hank agreed as he shut the door quietly and told the others.

"Five minutes?" she asked her husband curiously, "Yeah… so our daughter can finish her meal, and so her Momma can get ready for company other than her husband." He said smiling down to her, she was amused at how soft his expression and tone was. "Hm, I guess I do sometimes forget that this is not my home country." "Hm-hm, yeah…" She watched as their daughter finished eating, and yawned. Ororo then covered herself up decently. "What do you think?" She asked looking to Logan, he tilted his head at her slightly and squinted as if looking for something. "Just one more thing." He said leaning down, she smiled warmly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then her lips. "Now you look perfect." Her face flushed with heat as he made his final comment to her. About then there was another knock on the door. "Come in." Ororo said loudly. The doorknob turned then opened slightly, Ororo's sister was one of the first to come into the room. They all gathered around the bed with the happy little family. "Aw…" Bobby said looking to the baby, "She's so cute!" Kitty said exuberantly. "Look at her little nose." Scott said leaning down slightly with Jean at his side. "She's a very beautiful baby, congratulations Ororo and Logan." The smile on Ororo's face warmed the room at least a good 2 – 3 degrees. "What's her name?" Kitty asked looking to Ororo, smiling to her daughter Ororo looked up to Kitty, "Jessica N'dare Elizabeth Howlett." She replied to her young friend; Kitty's teeth showed as she smiled back looking at the newborn in her Mother's arms. "Hi little Jessie." Kitty said happily and moved her finger as to say hi, the baby squirmed about, making a little coo sound, that made everyone in the room "aww" audibly. "She looks like her Daddy." Rogue said standing by Kitty, he felt his pride grow at Rogue's comment. He moved his hand to their baby girls head, touching her hair gently, she moved her head slightly. "She does." Vivian commented, then reached her hand toward the little one to touch her niece, Ororo smiled to her sister, as did Logan, though if he were an animal you'd see his ears start to turn back at the sight of someone other than him or his wife touching their baby. "Do you realize what day it is Ororo?" Her sister asked, Ororo thought for a moment. "Um… Wednesday?" Vivian chuckled slightly, and nodded, "It's the 23rd of November." Her eyebrows went up knowing what the meant. "The day before Thanksgiving?" "Yes Ororo, it seems that little Jessica here arrived just in time to enjoy her first Thanksgiving with the rest of us here." Ororo looked up to Logan. "Happy Thanksgiving Darlin'." He said smiling to her, she smiled wide at the statement, "And Happy Thanksgiving to you as well my love."

* * *

Hey guys, sorry for the wait that you had to endure for this chapter, doing my best to submit these chapters as I finish them... 🙂  
Please read and review (tell me what's good, and not so good.)


	14. Fatigue and Joy

It was about 3 o'clock in the morning, Jessie had woken her parents once again for meal time, Ororo did her best to get sleep in between these little interruptions that filled her with warmth and joy, but sometimes the knowledge that she'd just received the gift that she'd secretly wanted for years kept her awake. They kept the little one in the bed with them as they slept that night, just as they would for however long they felt the need. Hank had offered to put her in a little crib that they had ready for her in the room, but Ororo had asked him if she could just hold her for a little while… well, the little while turned into a full day, and then a full night, Hank didn't bother her about it, neither did Logan. They both knew that she'd wanted to be a Mom for a while now, even though she tried to hide it… it showed, like in the times where she'd be seemingly overprotective of Evan, treating him like he was her son rather than her nephew, or with some of the other kids. Even when it came to X23, she at times acted like a Mother to her, which the girl didn't always understand being raised in Hydra, and all… For some reason the day that they'd come up with a name for the feral child came to his mind, and he couldn't get it to leave.

Flashback:

Ororo and Logan were laying in their bed talking, it was about 11:30 at night, but Ororo couldn't go to sleep. Knowing this Logan was trying to find out what was keeping her up, when he got rewarded with something he didn't expect. "How could someone do that Logan…" He looked at her, not sure what she was talking about. "Do what?" "Put a child through hell like that?" "I don't know… seems that people like that forget they have a soul, and just use their power to put others through… horrible things." She sighed knowing this was true. "I do not understand this… how could anyone find joy in hurting another?" He stayed silent, wondering the same thing, thinking about how many times he was used to bring harm to others for the pleasure of his former masters, and how much they had scarred him and X23 just for their own messed up version of fun. "I don't either Ro." They stayed silent for the next couple moments, just lying there, her on her side and him turned the same direction, cradling her with his form. "We should think of a name for her." She spoke suddenly, stealing him away from the gates of sleep. "Like what?" He asked curiously. "I don't know… she's your daughter." His eyes widened at her comment, he knew she was his clone, but daughter?... He hadn't thought of it that way, but now that the thought was in his mind it made sense… after all he did tell her that he was the closest one that she had to family, maybe that's how she took it, though it would be a little difficult to tell since she hardly came around. "How about you choose." She finished her comment, he decided that it was fair, and started racking his brain.

'Jan… nah, too girly, Harley! The heck?' He thought to himself, there was no way he was naming his daughter after his bike. 'Joan… uh, doesn't fit… Melinda, nah… ok think brain, think… Laura! Hey that would work!' That title seemed to fit with her somehow. "What about Laura?" He asked, she moved her head a bit thinking of the name. "I like that." She said looking to him, he smiled nuzzling her hair, she laughed as it tickled.

End of Flashback:

The little one was now happily drinking her meal, as her parents watched her, Ororo laid her head on the pillow resting as the baby ate. Logan ran his hand over the little one's back smiling contently, Ororo smiled seeing his expression, seeing her smile at him like that made him wonder. "What?" He asked, she chuckled. "I love it when you smile." He was caught off guard by her statement, he hadn't realized it, but he'd gotten more and more used to smiling the closer the baby came, and when she was delivered he could hardly stop, even if it was hardly noticeable, it was there. He had to laugh a little bit at her statement, realizing this. "Yeah?" He asked looking to her. "Mhm, it's very special you know." "You're just tryin to make me feel good." "I am… I am also telling you the truth." He smiled at her comment, then gave her a warm kiss. The little one squealed looking to her Mom and Dad. Her Dad put on a face of mock confusion. The tiny girl smiled and laughed as she got a few bubble kisses from her Daddy. Ororo laughed gently watching her husband and daughter, then joined in giving her little girl some sweet little kisses on her head as well. The little one laughed happily, till she started crying. "Augh." Logan exclaimed, smelling the baby poop, that she'd just produced. "Did you go number two… Did you just go number two?" Ororo asked Jessie cutely, "You did?! You went number two!" She said exuberantly, the baby's crying lessened as her Mom was being funny. Though he didn't want to ask it was the only thing he could really do at this point, he gave her a look of should I? She gave him a sweet little glance and shook her head to him. "I got this one Babe." He smiled, "Ok."

She got up to take care of the little stink that Jessica had excavated, Logan stayed on the bed, just watching his wife as she changed the little ones diaper. Though any girl might've expected him to view the weight she'd gained over the period of her term as unattractive, he saw it as the opposite… while it wasn't usual for her to be more rounded in certain areas, it was perfect for her right now, and he knew that. He wasn't the kind of guy to expect her to be perfect, especially not after everything that they'd been through together. Besides she just had their baby. No, if anything it made her more attractive to him. In a minute she was done changing the little one's diaper, and turned coming back to the bed to rejoin her husband, using a little wind to aid her transportation to and forth. Giving little Jessie over to her Father she laid herself down next to him. Jessie's eyes were wide and her expression of wonder as he held her up in the air, slowly bringing her down to his chest making a little bubbling noise, trying to entertain her. Ororo chuckled at his playfulness with their newborn.

Sleep was labored that night, they'd talked about taking shifts when it came to feeding and changing the little one, but talking of such things and doing them varied a little. Having to wake up and feed the little one every few hours though taxing on both Mother and Father, was exciting. They were used to taking care of kids, it was their job after all, but taking care of a baby, that was their own child gave them some extra good vibes.

Logan's senses jumpstarted as he heard three distinct knocks on the door, he knew by the smell that it was Beast. "Logan, Ororo, are you guys up yet?" Logan looked to his wife and new daughter who were still asleep, then back to the door, then the clock. It was nine fifteen in the morning, the last time they'd gotten up had to be about six or seven. Getting up he went to the door to see what Hank wanted. "Yeah?" He said groggily looking to the Doctor, Hank's face lit up seeing his friend. "Ah, the face of new Fatherhood, how are you feeling this morning my friend?" Logan blinked dryly at the Beast's question.

They'd been kept up just about all night by their newborn who already had a strict routine of eat, sleep and poop. "What do ya want furball?" Logan asked, "No more than to know of the wellbeing of you, Ororo and little Jessica." Logan rubbed his face and ran his hand through his hair, "Ya gotta do it right now?" Hank looked down to his clipboard, then made a face. "I suppose it could wait for a bit." Logan's expression lifted slightly "Good." he then shut the door and retreated back into the room, Ororo was still asleep on her back, Logan crept back beside her. Not a moment after he laid beside her the little one started to fuss and cry. Ororo awoke before he could get up, looking to where the little one was in the little crib that was set up for her next to the bed, "I've got it Ro, you rest."

She laid there watching as he carefully picked up the baby and took her out of her crib, "Agh." He turned his face away for a moment cause of the smell, she was slightly amused and stifled a laugh at his reaction, he smirked at the little girl who was still crying from the uncomfortableness of the little mess inside her diaper. "It's ok little darlin, Daddy's gonna take care of this for ya." He said to her, she didn't calm much yet, though she didn't cry as hard as before. A couple minutes later all was said and done, Logan had cleaned her up and put her into a new diaper, by the end of the ordeal Jessie was smiling to her Father who couldn't help but feel all warm inside and smile back.

"Guess Daddy's got this one under control." Ororo said looking to him smiling, "Yep." He rocked her slightly in his arms, "Bring her here." She summoned him, he brought her over to her Mother, giving her a light kiss on her fuzzy head before handing her over. "Hi Jessica, how's my little girl doing today?" The little one gurgled cutely, then made it clear that she was hungry, and her Mother was quick to comply. Ororo watched her baby, rubbing her back tenderly as she had her breakfast, her husband joined her in the loving gesture toward their baby, petting her hair softly. "How ya feeling Ro?" Logan asked looking to her, she looked back to him and smiled. "Tired, and sore." He smiled to her slightly, "Beast wanted to check in on ya earlier." "And what did you do?" "Made him wait." "Thank you my love." He nuzzled her softly, and she did the same back to him, then ended it with a kiss, they held the kiss for a few seconds, then had a few more.

Soon there was another knock on the door, finishing her meal the baby smiled to her Mother, "We should let him in if he needs to check up on our little one." Logan looked to the door, then half smiled to his wife, knowing she was probably right, the smart thing would be to let the doctor do what he had to. Going to the door, he let the man in. "Ah, good morning Logan." Hank said smiling to the new Dad, he then looked to the woman and baby. "And how are the new Mother and child feeling today?" Ororo looked up to the furry blue Beast and smiled, "I am feeling well, thank you Henry." He turned his attention to the little one in her Mother's arms, "How is little Jessica Howlett?" "More peaceful now than she was before." Ororo responded for her, "That's good." Jessie made a little noise looking up to the blue mutant and wiggled her arms and legs nervously, though he was the most harmless person to the little one next to her parents of course, he could look menacing to some. Not wanting to frighten the little one he took off his glasses, "It's ok little one, this is your Uncle Henry, he's a big blue teddy bear." Her Mother reassured the baby, he put on his sweetest smile for the little one who calmed down after a second.

Hank did his check up on the family, thankfully everything about the new little one was perfect and beautiful. Though he was very peaceful during the check up he wouldn't lie, he was a little nervous that time. He knew Ororo would let him examine the little one as much as he needed to, unless of course she didn't feel right about it, but it wasn't her he was worried about. When the little one reacted to seeing him, her Mom and him calmed her down so he could run a check up on her, but when he turned to Logan to ask him something he noticed a couple very distinct things… The first thing was that though he was happy he had a look in his eye of impending danger as he looked to the blue mutant he also noticed his hair was standing on end, he was sure this was because of his daughter's temporary uneasiness. He was awed by the immediate connection between the parents and child in that short of time.

Hank left the family a little bit later. Ororo held the little one close to her as her husband came back to his place with her on their bed. Jessie yawned which made both her parents aw, she soon fell back asleep between them, her Dad put her in the cradle they had for her. They rested a little bit after that again since becoming new parents is a very big job, and something that takes a lot of energy.

* * *

**Thanks guys for the favs and follows, currently working on the next chapter, hope it's not going to take so long to get it up here, I apologize in advance for the waiting time.**


	15. Changes

The day had gone by peacefully, not unlike the usual days that the X-Men would have normally as far as activity from the students, however unlike any of the days that they'd ever had for Ororo who was now a Mom besides being a teacher and main leader of the X-Men. She'd gotten more used to the little interruptions that they had every night with their little one. Logan had also gotten used to it, not in the same way as his wife, but he had nonetheless. A couple times he'd woken up a minute or two before baby Jessie needed her diaper changed, though it was a horrible stench to his nostrils especially with heightened senses he'd rather take care of it himself rather than wake Ororo up who was already exhausted from taking care of the baby in the day and though she would gladly take on the challenge and opportunity to take care of her baby at night she didn't need any extra stress right now.

It was noon now, they had just eaten with the Professor and the students, the kids were all going to play a game of capture the flag outside with Hank. Charles, Ororo, and Logan watched as they set the boundaries for the game and started playing. It was fun watching the kids play, not as fun as playing with them, but for the moment she was content. Now that she was on maternity leave she found her new normal a bit strange... just relax, sit back and enjoy the ride... She liked relaxing, but she wasn't used to sitting back and doing absolutely nothing for a whole day, let alone weeks or months.

It was a weekend, Ororo was sitting near the window in the rec room, seeing her the professor went over to check on her. "Hello Ororo." He announced himself, she looked to him and smiled back, "Hello Professor." "How are you doing today my dear?" He asked, she smiled to him and then looked back out the window for a moment. "I am feeling strange..." She admitted, she'd never been expected to just sit and do nothing before, she didn't always feel good knowing that everyone else was doing what she would usually do right now... Charles smiled understandingly at her. "Ah yes, it isn't easy to get used to, being a Mother that is... but it is a very important job."

"Yes." She smiled slightly as the face of her happy little girl came frolicking into her mind. "I am just not used to doing nothing all of a sudden... it feels strange." He gave her a sympathetic look understanding her words. "I understand, it's not easy to stop everything and focus on yourself when you're so used to focusing on others." She nodded her head in agreement. "No, it is not." "But it is necessary Ororo... giving your body time to heal after having little Jessica is vital to the next steps in your life, moving on, being a wonderful Mother, which I know you will be, and improving yourself in general count on that." She nodded as she watched the falling snow outside. "And you know what Logan would say about it if you were to try and resume life as usual." She laughed at his statement. It was true, if she tried to do anything that she normally did as a teacher at the moment Logan would all but literally sit on her to make sure she rested and recovered all the way as she should and undoubtedly would. She felt a little pity for her husband at the same time. He knew that she was a strong woman and could handle herself in everything, but sometimes he saw her as a fragile little bird that was in his care, and if the slightest thing happened it could take her away. She had to humor him on that. They were very different, about the same as day and night, not to mention that they were from different times and places, her born in New York in the 1950's then was in Africa where often times men are thought to hold more worth than women, and where women are often expected to go on with life as usual after giving birth with little recovery time if any at all, and him in Canada in the 1850's where men were taught to respect the fragility and value of women, and where they were not expected to do anything except for very light work if any at all. "It would be a little funny to see him react to that." She chuckled a bit at the thought of the look on his face, but then she was right, he would sit on her and make sure she stayed where she was comfortable and could recover all the way.

Scott was coming inside from playing with the kids, him and Jean were having a good time so far with their new duties that they'd received since Ororo had the baby just a couple days ago. Scott and Jean had taken up the responsibilities of the couple now, Logan, Ororo, and the Professor had all seen this as an opportunity to promote the two student teachers to a new level of responsibility, in doing that they would be tested in their skills and improve their techniques. They took the news in stride and juggled the weight of it all quite well surprising their teachers. It was decided that they'd let Logan and the Professor be their judge on how they were doing. It was expected at least partially that they would fall flat on their faces and do a little wining every now and then. The two overseers joked about the two's progress after giving the official verdict to how they were doing.

"Man, if they keep this up me and 'Ro'll have to retire." Logan said sarcastically, the Professor chuckled at his statement, "Oh I'm sure we can find work for you somewhere... we still need people to be on our recruiting team." "Yeah, someone's definitely gonna wanna be a part of the school when they see the Wolverine marchin' toward 'em." "Hm-hm, you actually have a calm presence about you these days, that doesn't mean they would run from you my friend." Logan's face dropped the happy expression suddenly. "Yeah well, that doesn't change my reputation. I'm still a bad guy." He folded his arms and faced the corner of the room, "Well you are not one here... and I would go as far as to say that you are one of the good guys here Logan." "That's cause I'm a mutant and a teacher... and I haven't killed anyone in a while." "Partially, but also because you have a good heart, I know that Ororo wouldn't have loved you like she does if that wasn't true... I know her well Logan, I met her before you did... she is as a daughter to me, and if I sensed that you posed any danger to her I would've had you believing that you were a three year old girl that was still in diapers and needed changing." Logan stifled a laugh from fully erupting from him as he heard the man's threat. "Ha-ha! Yeah, that'd be embarrassin'..." Charles smiled sure he'd gotten his point across.

It was November 30th, the day before Ororo's birthday, Logan had special plans for that day, though he'd have to plan little interruptions in for the baby, but that wasn't a burden, she was quite the opposite, a little present sent from above special for them. He knew she was God's birthday present for Ororo, and that made him happy. He got up out of bed to get himself some breakfast, Ororo was still in the bed asleep, he didn't want to disturb her so he moved as quietly as he could. A few minutes later Ororo woke up, rolling over to caress her husband she found that he wasn't there, she turned her attention to the baby girl who was in her crib sound asleep. Suddenly feeling that her bladder was going to release itself Ororo got up going to the restroom. A moment after getting in she heard the baby start to cry, upset at being alone. As she was about to wash her hands there was a boom of thunder outside, it seemed louder than normal. Thinking about whether that was from her or natural, she hadn't heard anything on the news about a storm, granted though she hadn't watched the weather or news for a little while now, not since she had the baby anyway. And she wasn't sure about it being from her, she didn't think she was that emotional right now, though she could definitely be wrong.

Getting out of the bathroom she went to her daughter and picked her up out of the cradle. "It's ok baby, it's ok, Mommy's here." The little one still cried, but seemed to be getting calmer now as her Mom bounced her in her arms walking away from the crib. Going by the window Ororo noticed that it had started snowing hard, and some lightning and thunder was dancing in the distance. It didn't seem too bad so she turned her attention back to her baby girl.

"Ro?" She heard Logan's voice behind her, she turned seeing his concerned look, "You ok?" She smiled to him and nodded, he'd doubt her if he didn't smell that she was telling the truth. He walked up to her and their daughter, looking to her concerned as well. "Jessica was just lonely for her Mommy and Daddy." He smiled to the little one, then back to her Mom

There was a knock on the door, "Come in." She called, the door opened slightly to reveal Jean and Kitty. "Hello." She greeted the girls as they came into the room. "Hey Ororo." Jean said peacefully to the other woman, "How are you feeling?" Kitty asked genuine concern in her voice, "I am feeling well, thank you." "Is there anything we can do for you?" Jean asked, a smile spread on Ororo's face at their generosity. "I am not sure right now, but thank you my friends." She said gratefully, Kitty had started awing at the little baby in her Mother's arms and was being cute playing peekaboo with the little one who was a little surprised every time she came out of hiding from behind her hands. Ororo laughed lightly at their enthusiasm to cheer the little one up. A couple minutes later the little one had calmed down.

It was soon time for supper, everyone ate and was satisfied, they then decided it was time for something funny and went into the rec room, Tabitha picked the Three Stooges and started watching it, Rogue and a few other students joined her. "Whoa, we got the Gothic girl joining us?" Tabitha said acknowledging the girl, "Hey, even I had a childhood that was at least somewhat enjoyable." Rogue responded, eyeing the other girl. "Hey, no pressure just didn't expect to see shady reclusive rogue joining something actually fun for a change." "Yeah, wouldn't you be surprised." She settled back into the pillow.

Ororo decided it was a good day to go for a flight around the skies, so she departed into the clouds. A few of the students watched her fly for a while, as some of the students apparently had a crush on her which she had no problem with really as long as they didn't get any wild ideas and try to make a move on her or something stupid like that. Logan had noticed this with those students, he'd given them the glare of death a couple times which was enough to make them take a quick trip to the restroom. Thankfully they were smart and didn't encroach on his territory.

Seeming to know that her Mom was not nearby enough to hear her squeaks and such little Jessie was looking around in awe of the world around her just like any little baby would be. She was in her Dad's arms as he walked around the mansion. He walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen to warm up the solution for the baby milk and get something to eat for himself. Getting to the microwave he put the bottle in and warmed it up for a few seconds, then went over to the fruit bowl getting himself an apple and biting into it. He alternated standing on each of his feet like her Mom would do when she held her daughter. Soon the bottle was done warming and he was walking them and their snacks out to the rec room, his ears twitched attentively every time wind whispered and howled and thunder rumbled. Entering the big open room he saw the rogue teen, she watched him as he came into the space holding the new baby. He nodded a greeting to her, and she smiled to him in response. He bit into the apple holding it with his mouth, then he lifted the bottle to the little ones mouth and she started to drink from it. Seeing them like that made Rogue curious for a moment.

"Hey Logan..." She asked getting his attention, he looked up from the little one in his arms and met her eyes with his. "Hnn?" He asked, apple still in his teeth. "What's it like for yah... bein a Dad now..." He would've shut down and answered with a defensive retaliation in one way or another before, but now he didn't want to, he loved the little bundle in his arms, she was precious to him just as he knew she would be, and so was the girl in front of him. The realization came to his mind again, 'I guess I really do see her as a daughter don't I...' He looked down to the baby for a moment thinking of how to explain it, yet at the same time it was so sacred he didn't know if he should try to explain, not now anyway, he spit the apple out of his mouth onto the cushion beside him. "It's like..." He caught himself opening and stopped himself for a moment trying to make sure he was ready to go on with the explanation, dang, he really was changing. "It's like having the possession of a precious treasure, and being tasked with takin care of it... and makin sure nothin happens to it." Now he was smiling, but he wasn't ashamed of himself, he had that same attitude of 'don't like me? Deal with it!' The girl smiled at his explanation of the task set before him. She sat quietly just there, watching the man on the other side of the room. The little one made a noise, a squeak, it was a little thing, just for a moment, but still it made his face well up with Fatherly pride.

A few minutes pass, Rogue suddenly looks out the window behind her, a big rumble of thunder travels over the institute, there's lightning too. He's sure she's fine, hopefully... It's not like she could be killed by lightning, the previously acclaimed weather goddess didn't shy away from it, and even when it did strike her it did her less damage than it did him, which was a relief to both of them. The teen looked back to where the man sat, she caught a glimpse of something interesting... it wasn't a man noticing a thunder storm, it wasn't a hardened soldier, it was a husband, who was concerned for his wife. When he looked back at the girl noticing the look on her face he felt old defenses rise up again. "What's up Stripes?" He asked, she kept her gaze, then spoke a moment later. "Nothin, just noticin." "Noticin what?" She looked down for a moment, "That... well, you're different Logan, you've changed." He thought for a moment, 'busted!' He thought, there was nothing wrong with the change he knew deep down, but at the same time he was still used to being thought of as the "big dog on campus" as they say, and he knew he still was... But what if one of their enemies found out... what if Sabertooth, or Magneto, or... or Weapon X found out... He knew that at least two of them wouldn't hesitate in taking all of that away from him. It had been done many times before, but the pain always stayed with him no matter what.

"Yeah, I guess I have... Don't go tellin' my enemies that though." She got a strange look on her face, "Why would Ah do that?" He shrugged not knowing that answer and hoping there wasn't any. "Don't know..." "I wouldn't tell anyone, especially not our enemies." He smiled slightly. "Thanks kid." "Sure thing Da- I mean... yeah, sure thing Logan." She caught herself before the words fell out of her mouth, she looked to Logan to see if he caught it, he looked up at her, but it wasn't a look of disapproval, it was a look of wondering, he knew what she was about to say. 'sure thing Dad' it played in his mind as he looked to her, he thought back to what Hank and told him about the kids seeing him as if he was already a Dad there, to all of them, though he was sure that Hank had got his foot in the door as far as the position jousting went, and Hank would probably take his place sometime, especially when he and Ororo would go away to their own home, them and their kids, however many they'd have...

* * *

Ok, so two more chapters to go and the story is done! (I think...) Yay! I liked writing this... hope you enjoyed reading it, please review and let me know what you think, I don't have many people telling me what they like or don't like about this story, doesn't have to be long, just there... Thank you to everyone who follows/favorites me and this story as well as my other works, it means a lot to me :-)  
Love you guys 3


End file.
